A foil parcel is the closest thing camping has to a dishwasher. Everything goes in raw or prepped, the coals do the work, and the only thing you have to wash afterwards is a knife and a board.
This one earns its spot on the menu because it tastes like a lot more effort than it is. Chorizo renders its paprika-orange fat through the potatoes, the capsicum blisters and sweetens, and the whole thing comes out steaming with a bit of crisp on the edges. Thirty minutes on a coal bed, no pot to scrub, and dinner is sorted while you sit back with a drink.
What You Need
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 250 g cured chorizo, sliced about 1 cm thick
- 600 g baby potatoes, halved (or brushed potatoes cut into 3 cm chunks)
- 1 large red capsicum, cut into 3 cm pieces
- 1 red onion, cut into wedges
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- Salt and cracked black pepper
- 1 lemon, half cut into wedges, half for squeezing
- 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Optional: 100 g haloumi or feta, and garlic aioli to serve
Gear
- Heavy-duty foil, 30 cm wide (double the sheets for rough coals)
- Fire pit, fire ring or a charcoal BBQ with a good bed of coals
- Long tongs and a pair of heatproof gloves
- Chopping board and knife
- A pot for parboiling the potatoes
- Esky or 12V fridge for the prepped ingredients
How to Make It
- Pre-cook the potatoes. Boil them for 8 to 10 minutes until a knife slides in with a little resistance, then drain and cool. Do this at home or at camp, then keep them cold until you need them.
- Build the parcels. Cut four sheets of heavy foil about 40 cm long and double them up. A single layer tears on hot coals.
- Mix the filling. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes, chorizo, capsicum, onion and garlic with the olive oil, smoked paprika, oregano, salt and pepper until everything is evenly coated.
- Divide it up. Spoon a quarter of the mix onto each sheet and spread it into a single layer, so it steams evenly rather than piling up in the middle.
- Seal it properly. Sit a lemon wedge on top of each parcel, bring the long edges together and fold them over twice, then roll the short ends in tight. Leave a small pocket of air above the food so the steam can circulate.
- Cook on coals, not flames. When the fire has burned down to glowing coals (usually 30 to 40 minutes after lighting), spread a 5 cm bed of them out flat. Set the parcels on top, then shovel a thin layer of coals over the top as well. Heat from both sides is what crisps the edges.
- Turn once. After 15 minutes, roll each parcel over with long tongs. If the foil is puffing up, it is working.
- Check at 25 to 30 minutes. The potatoes should be fork-tender and starting to catch colour, the capsicum blistered, and the chorizo fat rendered and crisping at the edges.
- Open and finish. Slice the top of each parcel open away from you to let the steam out, squeeze over the lemon, scatter the parsley, and serve straight from the foil with aioli on the side.
Camp Tips
- Prep at home: parboil and season the potatoes, bag the chopped veg and sliced chorizo separately, and keep the whole lot cold in the 12V fridge. At camp you are only folding foil and lighting a fire.
- Substitutions: snags or bacon work in place of chorizo. For a vegetarian version, leave out the chorizo and add haloumi in the last 10 minutes of cooking so it softens instead of turning rubbery.
- Cook to the coals, not the clock: wind, coal depth and potato size all change the timing. If the foil is still tight and hard after 30 minutes, give it another 10 in fresh coals.
- Leftovers: chop the cold filling through a salad the next day, or fold it into a jaffle with grated cheese for breakfast.
- Leave no trace: used foil goes in the rubbish bag, not the fire, and a coal bed gets drowned, stirred and buried before you leave.
The Cold Chain Matters More Than the Coals
The trick to this recipe is that the work happens before you leave home. Pre-cooked potatoes and sliced chorizo only stay good while the cold chain holds, and on a hot spring day that comes down to your fridge doing its job in the back of the ute or the van. If you are running a 12V setup, Outcamp's 12V accessories range covers the cables, chargers and power bits that keep the fridge cold when the car is parked up and the fire is going.
One Parcel, Zero Dishes
Foil parcels are the meal you fall back on when the day has run long and nobody wants to wash up in the dark. Get the coals right, keep the parcels sealed, and you get a dinner that tastes like a camp kitchen effort with none of the clean-up. Cook it once and it will be in the rotation for every trip after. If you have a version of your own, share it in the comments — the best camp recipes always come from someone else's fire pit.
